Episode Summary

Through his current girlfriend, Lois, Jerry meets an old rival, who suspects that he cheated in a high school race and he wants a rematch with Jerry to prove he was faster. Elaine is put on a "blacklist" for Chinese food delivery and finds out her boyfriend is a Communist. George responds to a personal ad in a Communist newspaper while at work, when Steinbrenner hears about it, he wants to see George in his office. Through his friend Mickey, Kramer becomes a department store Santa, who later spouts out Communist propaganda.moreless

A wonderfully zany episode of the King (or Rabbi) of Sitcoms; Seinfeld.

In this Christmas episode; Jerry's girlfriend Lois's Boss Duncan is challenging Jerry to a race for the one Jerry (unfairly) beat him in back in High School. Elaine's communist boyfriend who loves Hop Sing chinese food is furious when Elaine gets both of them blacklisted from there. George answers a personal ad from "The Daily Worker" which leads his boss to believe that he's a communist and Kramer gets his umpteenth odd job as a department store Santa along with his pint - sized pal Mickey.This is a fine example of how the once paper - thin, weak Seinfeld plots in the early seasons have transformed into wacky but hilarious storylines with equally great sub - plots. Jerry's takes centre stage but having the accident - prone Kramer play a department store Santa sounds good on paper but is even better when it's executed. Elaine's story is more of a device to include funny jabs at communism and George the same but with the ever dysfunctional Yankees.The jokes come thick and fast in this episode and as Jerry's girlfriend in this episode is named Lois you can imagine the Superman references and the final race at the end between Duncan and Jerry with the cheesy Superman theme music in the background is hilarious.This probably has the most guest stars of all episodes (apart from the finale of course) which include:Todd Kimsey (Ned)Renée Props (Lois)Don McManus (Duncan)Vicki Lewis (Ada)Claude Earl Jones (Mr. Bevilaqua)Mark Christopher Lawrence (Boss)Michael Sorich (Castro)Denise Poirier (Arlene)Spencer Klein (Kid)Martin Chow (Lew) The guest stars all do credible jobs except for Martin Chow as the delivery guy Lew who squeezes in so much of the angry asian shtick that gets old fast.This is a Christmas episode but the dark nature of the show eliminates all the tired Christmas clichés (having the episode end on the gang seen laughing through a window while snow gently falls outside or having the four of them sit at a Christmas feast with Jerry proposing a toast saying "I love you guys", *shudder*) from occuring. For furthur proof of the shows darkness is that we find ourselves rooting for a guy who cheated on a race while the guy who knew that he cheated and just wants a rematch is painted as the bad guy, only on Seinfeld.This is episode is yet another reason why Seinfeld is the best TV show of all time.moreless

"I choose not to run!"

A classic episode from start to finish. Jerry dates a girl named Lois and runs into a former high school rival. We also see Elaine dating a communist and Kramer volunteering as a department store Santa.

It has many classic moments, the big race at the end is my favorite, the Superman music kicking up and the celebrating, including Jerry knocking Elaine out of the way. I love this episode. Jerry's comment to George in the coffee shop (you really went bald there) is classic."The Race" is the best episode of the sixth season. I almost forgot to mention Jerry's references to Lois as if he were Superman. Great.moreless

Great episode very funny

The Christmastime episode opens with Jerry at his new girlfriend's office - Lois, who Jerry is quite impressed by (in reference to Lois Lane). It turns out that her boss is Duncan Meyer, an old high school rival of Jerry's. The next scene shows Elaine having a falling out with a Chinese delivery man, which subsequently causes her to be blacklisted from Hop Sing's. George then asks Elaine why Ned, her new boyfriend, has a copy of The Daily Worker, which prompts suspicion of Ned being a communist. George is then intrigued by the personal ads. Jerry arrives and George congratulates him on finally going out with a girl named Lois. Jerry tells George about Duncan, who sees Jerry explain the story to Elaine. In the 9th grade, Jerry got a head start in a race that he won. No one knows but George, though Duncan has been suspicious ever since. Jerry never raced again, and says how a myth grew about his speed - and now Duncan is back.Jerry then picks up Lois, and Lois quizzes Jerry about cheating in the race. Jerry defends his win, and Lois believes him. Meanwhile, Elaine comes out and asks Ned if he is a communist, which he confirms. Jerry tells George that he did not want to lie to Lois, but he wanted Duncan to never find out about it. George announces he contacted a girl from The Daily Worker. Kramer then comes in, dressed as Santa Claus for his new job that Mickey got him. Lois then rings Jerry, telling him that Duncan wants to meet up. Jerry thinks Duncan is going to ask for a re-race, so George says he'll turn up, pretending he has not seen Jerry since high school, and back up his winning story. Meanwhile, Ned approaches Kramer at the department store, getting him interested in Communist practices. George has also been contacted by Natalie from The Daily Worker at work, and his secretary now thinks George is a communist. At Monk's, while Duncan is protesting the race, George turns up, pretending he has not seen Jerry in years, and backs Jerry's story - George takes the opportunity to claim he is a millionaire architect. Jerry however concedes to Duncan's challenge to race again. Duncan starts to call up everyone from high school to come out for it and Jerry gets worried the legend will die. Meanwhile George has been called into Steinbrenner's office, as he is a suspected communist.Jerry has now backed out of the race. At Elaine's, she gets Ned blacklisted from Hop Sing's after she orders delivery under his name. Back at the department store, Kramer (as Santa) is accused by a kid of spreading communist propaganda. Kramer and Mickey are then fired. Upon meeting Lois, Jerry finds out that unless he races, Duncan will fire Lois. George then finds out he is being sent to Cuba to recruit baseball talent. At the race, Kramer's car exhaust makes a noise that sees Jerry get another unnoticed head start. With the Superman theme playing in the background, Jerry runs to the finish lie and keeps the legend alive. He hugs Lois and then winks at the camera.moreless

Reindeer Name Correction

As Kramer and Mickey are leaving Jerry's apartment, Cosmo is pretending he is Santa by calling out the reindeer names.

Mickey corrects him by saying "It's not Donna. It's DonNER."

Well, actually you two, it's DONDER. That is the correct name for that reindeer. Don't worry Mickey, I thought the same thing up until a few years ago.

As Kramer and Mickey are leaving Jerry's apartment, Cosmo is pretending he is Santa by calling out the reindeer names.Mickey corrects him by saying "It's not Donna. It's DonNER."Well, actually you two, it's DONDER. That is the correct name for that reindeer. Don't worry Mickey, I thought themoreless

More cleverness from the mind of Larry David.

Interesting point in this episode. The restaurant that Ned says his father was blacklisted for is Hop Sings. That is the restaurant that Archie and Edith go to in All in the Family. Ironically the waiter in the All in the Family episode, is the Maitre D' from the Chinese Restaurant episode of Seinfeld! My guess is this was no accident.

Voice of George Steinbrenner (uncredited)

Recurring Role

Mickey Abbott

Recurring Role

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (9)

When Jerry is racing Duncan at the end of the episode and everyone starts cheering, there is a scene where Elaine is cheering for Jerry, there is a close up of Elaine and the people around her are very different from those standing around her in the far shot. In fact the scene appears to also have been re-used in the "Little Jerry" episode as well. Given the timeline this was probably filmed and then reused the "Little Jerry".

On this episode, Mark Christopher Lawrence plays Kramer's boss. In "The Airport", he played the luggage valet working at the airport when Jerry and Elaine ask him how much they should give him for tip.

The outside of George's office is very different from that we see in other episodes. In this one we can see the sits in angle, but in the rests of episodes the sits are more hidden and the court is pretty more visible.

Elaine claims that Ned reads the Communist newspaper "The Daily Worker"...however, The Daily Worker ended publication in 1957, during the "Reds Under The Bed" sweep of American Communism, led by U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy. So, unless Ned is reading a 35+ year old paper, than that can't be The Daily Worker.

QUOTES (17)

Kramer: There are no delicatessens under communism.Mickey: Whoa! Why not?Kramer: Well, because the meats are divided into a class system. You've got pastrami and corned beef in one class and salami and bologna in another. That's not right.

George: (trying to get a date with a communist) Yes, this is a business office, but I'm not a businessman per se. I'm here working for the people. I'm causing dissent, stirring the pot, getting people to question the whole rotten system.

George: So what have you been doing with yourself?Jerry: I'm a comedian.George: So what do you do, a lot of that "did you ever notice," this kind of stuff?Jerry: Yeah, yeah.George: It strikes me a lot of guys are doing that kind of humor now.Jerry: Yeah, yeah. Well, you really got bald there, didn't you?

NOTES (1)

This episode was nominated for the 1995 Eddie Award for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television. This episode was nominated for the 1995 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series.

ALLUSIONS (5)

Elaine: (to Ned) Just because you're a communist, does that mean you can't wear anything nice? You look like Trotsky.

Leon Trotsky was a one of the leaders of the Russian revolution and went on to become one of the first members of Russia's communist governing body. He was a firm believer in the ideas of Karl Marx, who created many of the basic ideas in modern communism.

When the child that can't speak English approaches Kramer (as Santa) and he pretends to respond in her language (really gibberish), it alludes to the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street in which Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle responds to a little Dutch girl in her own language.

Many lines throughout the episode, such as "Faster than a speeding bullet, Lois," "Jimmy's in trouble, Lois," "Why, I'd have to be Superman to do that, Lois," and several others are clear references to Jerry's favorite comic book character, Superman. The entire Jerry/Duncan race plotline, including the music, includes many references to Superman comic books, the Superman TV series starring George Reeves, and the Superman movies, starring Christopher Reeve.

Important:
You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload. By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it.

Please read the following before uploading

Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules!